Team building bingo is bingo where the squares are facts about coworkers, small tasks or challenges instead of numbers, so players have to talk to each other to fill a row. It works as a quick icebreaker at a meeting, a get-to-know-you game for new hires, or the main event of a fun day at the office. Below are 12 team building bingo ideas, tips for running a corporate bingo event, and the hosted games to book when you want something bigger.
Bring Fun to Work with Corporate Bingo
Getting some work done while keeping the team happy is a necessary balance in the workplace. Liven up the work routine by planning a luncheon, party, or other activity for your team. If you need an excuse to have fun, January 28 is National Fun at Work Day in the United States, so consider scheduling a fun team activity in January. Or perhaps you are lucky to work at a company where every day at work is fun; either way, in case you need some inspiration, check out what we did at our office today.
We began plans by considering what would benefit the team members at BEST, a company that specializes in team building across the nation and beyond. Surely not a game of cards, or hopscotch. Perhaps Jax, or duck-duck-goose? We decided on a game of team building bingo. Members of our corporate team had a fun day playing Human Bingo!
How to play Human Bingo!: Team Building Bingo for Work
Try out a game of corporate bingo at your office by following these simple steps:
- Prepare bingo cards full of interesting and fun facts about people on the team. Use specific questions like “Have you visited the Grand Canyon?” Team members are able to connect with others who have similar experiences.
- Divide your group into teams. Teams begin to fill in the bingo boxes with the facts they discover about the other members of the corporate team.
- The team with the most bingos on their board wins!
For more fun office game ideas or to work with professional team builders for your next corporate activity, check out all the games we offer!
12 Team Building Bingo Ideas
- Human bingo. Each square is a fact (“has run a marathon,” “speaks three languages”). Players find a colleague who matches and get their initials.
- New hire bingo. Squares send new employees to meet someone in finance, find the supply room, or learn a team acronym. It turns a first week into a scavenger hunt.
- Remote team bingo. For a video call: “a pet walks on camera,” “someone is in a different time zone,” “a coffee mug with a logo.” Share the card as a slide and let people mark it on screen.
- Trivia bingo. The host reads trivia questions and each square holds an answer. It rewards knowledge and keeps the room listening.
- Company history bingo. Squares hold facts about your company: the founding year, the first product, the office with the most employees. It doubles as onboarding.
- Wellness bingo. A month-long card: take the stairs, or walk outside at lunch. Teams compete for the most completed rows.
- Kindness bingo. Thank a colleague in writing or share a useful tip with another team. It gets recognition flowing across teams.
- Office scavenger bingo. Squares are items or places around the office for teams to photograph.
- Music bingo. Play short song clips; players mark the title or artist. Pick decades that span the generations in the room.
- Holiday bingo. A seasonal card for the holiday party, with squares for family traditions and favorite holiday foods.
- Charity bingo. Each row completed adds to a donation the company makes, so the game ends with a gift to a local cause.
- Conference bingo. At a sales meeting or offsite, squares send attendees to visit each session, meet a regional team or ask a leader a question.
How to Run a Corporate Bingo Event
Use 5 by 5 cards with a free center square, and print a different layout for each player so rows finish at different times. Mix departments on each team so the facts send people to colleagues they rarely talk to. A round of human bingo takes 15 to 30 minutes, so plan two or three rounds with prizes for the first row and the first full card. Close with a few minutes where people share what they learned about each other.
Turn Bingo Into a Hosted Game Show
For a larger corporate bingo event, a sales kickoff or a holiday party, a hosted game keeps the energy of bingo with a professional host, buzzers and live scoring. Our game show team building activities include Trivia Blast Live!, Best Corporate Feud and A Minute 2 Win It!, and remote teams can play Virtual Trivia Blast! on their video platform. To turn a game into a gift, a Charity Game Show donates to a local nonprofit.
Team Building Bingo: Common Questions
How do you play team building bingo?
Hand out cards whose squares are facts, tasks or answers. Players fill squares by finding a colleague who fits, completing the task or hearing the answer, and the first to complete a row calls bingo.
How long does office bingo take?
A round of human bingo takes 15 to 30 minutes. A month-long wellness or kindness card runs in the background of the workday.
Can remote teams play team building bingo?
Yes. Share the card on screen or as a fillable file, and use squares that work on a video call. For a hosted option, a virtual trivia game runs on the video platform you already use.
